Abstract
In this paper, Leucaena leucocephala sawdust was treated with glacial acid and sodium chloride to produce mushy and slivery fibre. The fibre morphology consists of fibre length, fibre diameter, lumen diameter, cell wall diameter, Runkel ratio and slenderness ratio. Approximate fibres morphology is often used to determine the size of fibres in wood species. Fibres dimension and morphology have an important effect on the physical and mechanical properties of wood composite such as medium density fibreboard (MDF) and insulation board. Fibre morphology properties of 5- and 3-year-old Leucaena leucocephala were collected. The images of fibre length, fibre diameter and lumen diameter were collected using an image analyser microscope. The data obtained were used to calculate the cell wall diameter, Runkel ratio and slenderness ratio. The result indicated that slenderness ratio was positively affected by the age of Leucaena leucocephala. The statistical analysis also shows that fibre length, cell wall diameter and Runkel ratio showed positive increase with increase of Leucaena leucocephala age. The results of intercorrelation indicated that the effect of the fibre morphology of Leucaena leucocephala on board properties was insignificant. Generally, the board properties are not depended on the variation of fibre morphology.
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